Army Routes Tech Funding Through New FUZE Program

Army FUZE has about $750 million a year to fund technology programs. The Army wants to move promising capabilities from idea to soldiers’ hands in weeks or months, rather than the decades and hundreds of millions of dollars tied to some traditional acquisition programs. The program makes smaller investments to mature prototypes, expand efforts that work and end those that don’t, said Dr. Matt Willis, Director of Army FUZE.

A New Acquisition Structure

Willis said Hon. Dan Driscoll, then Secretary of the Army, established Army FUZE about a year before the October 2026 interview. The program aims to make acquisition and innovation more deliberate and agile, while taking more risk. It divides funding among several programs, most of them focused on maturing prototypes. Army FUZE seeks technical returns, not financial ones, distinguishing it from a traditional venture fund.

Army FUZE brought together programs that once had separate application processes and entry points. Its xTech program aims to lower barriers for businesses new to government work with a simple application process and non-dilutive cash prizes. Those prizes can offset the costs of taking part in exercises. The Army has also shifted its Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer program toward prototype development, aiming for capabilities to reach soldiers in 18 to 24 to 36 months.

SBIR awards typically top out at around $2 million, though new flexibilities allow larger awards. Army FUZE’s portfolio also includes a Technology Maturation Initiative for larger prototyping awards and a Manufacturing Technology program focused on supply chains, manufacturability and cost-conscious development.

Commanders and Soldiers in the Process

Army FUZE serves as the capital engine behind the Army Pathway for Innovation and Technology, or Army PIT, which stood up about 10 months before the interview. Army PIT connects FUZE’s funding and acquisition program management with four deployed acquisition officers at the ASCCs, including U.S. Army Europe-Africa and U.S. Army Pacific. It also connects with officers at the tactical level at 18th Airborne Corps, I Corps and III Corps.

That setup gives the Army technical priorities directly from commanders, Willis said. The Army has cut most calls for proposals to two to five pages, instead of 50-page manuscripts. The process links funding and acquisition program management with officers deployed at those command levels.

Soldier feedback is part of the Army FUZE lifecycle, Willis said. Operational assessments put equipment in soldiers’ hands, sometimes with the vendor present, then send feedback to the vendor to improve the technology, interface or use. Early soldier involvement helps determine whether capabilities work as advertised and helps companies adapt.

Rapid Testing and Private Capital

Willis said a 100% transition rate would mean the Army wasn’t taking enough risks or pushing at the edge of technology. Companies that can adapt their technology, integrate it with other capabilities and support plug-and-play or layered solutions are better suited to Army needs than companies that operate closed systems.

Operation Jailbreak offered one example. A specific problem faced by forward-deployed soldiers led the secretary at the time to call for a capability in theater in 10 days. Army FUZE and Army PIT issued a solicitation, heard pitches, selected companies and put them under contract within 128 hours. They tested the capabilities at Aberdeen Proving Ground before deployment to CENTCOM.

Army FUZE and Army PIT are part of the acquisition enterprise, the Office of the Army Acquisition Executive, and work with portfolio acquisition executives and capability portfolio executives to scale promising technologies, Willis said. The FUZE capital integration team has also built partnerships with domestic and international venture-capital and private-capital firms. Those partnerships aim to help companies in the program’s ecosystem access cheaper capital and combine Army and private investment.